The SEC announced yesterday that it launched a new statistics and data visualization page that “includes statistics and graphics on key elements of the capital markets, such as initial public offerings, exempt offerings, corporate bond offerings, reporting issuers, municipal advisors, transfer agents, and household participation in the capital markets.” The announcement notes:

The webpage provides statistics presented in time series charts to show market trends, pie charts to show distribution across different categories, as well as heat maps to show geographic distributions. The visuals are interactive, allowing the public to explore the information in which they are interested.

“I have long believed that greater transparency is essential to serving the public effectively, and this new webpage is another step toward making our work more accessible,” said SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins. “This new statistics page provides an unprecedented window into the capital markets. I am pleased that the SEC has launched this effort to put vital information into the hands of investors, market participants, and the public.”

“This page offers users the ability to explore information about the market and follow how that information has changed over time,” said Dr. Robert Fisher, Acting Chief Economist and Director of the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis. “These data will enable a better understanding of what is happening in the markets.”

The new webpage includes:
– Data Visualizations: interactive graphics based on statistics
– Statistics Table: fundamental statistics regularly updated with the most recently available data
– Statistics Guide: description, calculation method, and data source for each metric
– Statistics Download: all available statistics in the table and data visualizations
– Related Materials: research and reports, regulatory background, investor bulletins, or additional resources

The new webpage can be found on the SEC’s website under Data & Research.

I encourage you to take a spin through this new site, the information is interesting. I suspect that I might share some of this information with my students this Fall, because it provides some interesting context regarding the utilization of various securities offering exemptions.

– Dave Lynn